Tornadoes pound North Carolina and Virginia, killing 25

In a stunning display of violence, dozens of tornadoes rampaged through North Carolina and Virginia on Saturday, killing at least 25 people, injuring at least 130, and damaging or destroying at least 450 homes and businesses. Hardest hit in yesterday's outbreak was the the town of Askewville in northeast North Carolina, where a violent tornado that was likely at least an EF-3 ripped homes off their foundations and killed eleven people. Also hard-hit was the Raleigh area, where a mile-wide EF-3 tornado with 140 - 150 mph winds roared through the downtown region, killing five people. The 22 deaths in North Carolina made yesterday's outbreak the deadliest day for tornadoes in the state since 1984, when the infamous March 28 tornado outbreak killed 57 people and injured 1248.

Figure 1. Viewer-uploaded photo sent to WRAL of the Raleigh tornado shortly before it leveled a Lowes store in Sanford, NC.

Figure 2. Radar reflectivity loop of the Raleigh, North Carolina tornado at 3:59pm EDT as the twister passed through downtown. Note the classic hook-shaped echo of the parent mesocyclone in the rotating severe thunderstorms that spawned the tornado.

NOAA's Storm Prediction Center logged 105 tornado reports on Saturday, 113 on Friday, and 23 on Thursday, bringing the 3-day total to 241 twisters. These preliminary tornado reports are typically an over-count of about 15%, so the 3-day April 14 - 16 2011 tornado outbreak likely will end up with 200 - 210 confirmed tornadoes. This is a huge number of tornadoes; an average April typically has just 150 tornadoes across the entire U.S.

On Thursday, the first day of this remarkable outbreak, 23 tornadoes and numerous deadly severe thunderstorms tore through Oklahoma and Arkansas, killing at least nine people. An EF-3 tornado hit the small town of Tushka, Oklahoma, population 350, ripping off the roof of the local high school and destroying dozens of buildings in Tushka. Two people were killed and 25 injured. The tornado moved over farmland and dissipated a short time later, but the squall line that spawned the tornado moved into Arkansas Thursday night, spawning severe thunderstorm winds that killed seven more people. The outbreak ramped up significantly on Friday, with 113 tornado reports. The deadliest tornado of the day an EF-3 twister that hit Prattville, Alabama at 10:55pm CDT, killing three people in a mobile home, and injuring four others. One of the most damaging tornadoes occurred just west of Jackson, Mississippi, when an EF-3 tornado touched down just south of I-20, crossed the expressway, flipping cars and semis, then plowed through the town of Clinton. At least nine people were injured in Clinton, and Malaco Records, one of the top Blues/Gospel/Soul labels in the country, was destroyed by the tornado.

WRAL has an impressive time lapse animation from a skycam on a tall skyscraper in Raleigh showing what at the time was believed to be a rain-wrapped Raleigh tornado moving through downtown, but was actually just a thunderstorm downdraft.

"WRAL has an impressive time lapse animation from a skycam on a tall skyscraper in Raleigh showing what at the time was believed to be a rain-wrapped Raleigh tornado moving through downtown, but was actually just a thunderstorm downdraft."

A correction is necessary. A photojournalist atop the RBC Plaza was pointing his camera to the southwest, then south. This corresponds to the path of the tornado as it approached from Holly Springs and passed over Interstate 40 at the South Saunders Street exit. The tornado is wrapped in rain, and visible briefly as it passed just to the southeast of the BB&T Tower. It then continued through the east and northeast side of the city.

Quoting fireflymom:I don't think that there has been a great deal of research into fault lines down under as Quakes are a rarity especially in the Queensland area, their last Quake of note was in 1939.

on the link i posted at the bottom of that post, click one of the Australian Quakes, then click under change background, click Geological faults then click go, and you will see this.

Yep, one of those events that you see people saying "It never flooded here before....."

Get your flood insurance now....

Exactly. When my wife and I bought our house, she didn't think we would need flood insurance, since we are technically outside of a 500-year floodplain. (our property is within the 500-year floodplain, but our house itself is not). I eventually convinced her to get it, since we have two storm sewer inlets on our curb, and in Houston, pretty much EVERYTHING is in a 500-year floodplain, regardless of what the maps say.

Quoting jeffs713:Can this La Nina end a bit faster, so the atmosphere will adjust and give us some rain?

I have a distinct feeling that our YTD rainfall will be close to average by September or October... I just fear how we will get to average. History says that we will get our average in one very large rain event, which quite frankly... scares me.

Yep, one of those events that you see people saying "It never flooded here before....."

The drought in Texas stretches across the state. According to the National Weather Service, the period between Feb. 1 and now is the second driest on record for the city of Houston. Will be 90 Degrees by Wednesday....Link

Can this La Nina end a bit faster, so the atmosphere will adjust and give us some rain?

I have a distinct feeling that our YTD rainfall will be close to average by September or October... I just fear how we will get to average. History says that we will get our average in one very large rain event, which quite frankly... scares me.

Notice the HUGE jump in temp, and HUGE drop in dewpoints at 850mb. THAT is an incredible cap, and is whats killing our rain chances.

And yes, the temp at 850mb is the same as it is on the ground.

And at 740mb, the relative humidity is a whopping 9%.

I don't know of any storms, hurricanes included, that can handle that kind of dryness.

The drought in Texas stretches across the state. According to the National Weather Service, the period between Feb. 1 and now is the second driest on record for the city of Houston. Will be 90 Degrees by Wednesday....Link

The open Atlantic and Central Carribean cetainly are cooler than last season, but the Gulf of Mexico is running away from what it was last season and to add fuel to the fire, Southern Florida is expecting low 90's for the next 7 days. Gulf Temps are going to soar.

Quoting RastaSteve:I wonder how this past weekend's outbreak stacks up compared to other outbreaks in history?

Some may remember this, It was a year before I was born...

The Super Outbreak is the largest tornado outbreak on record for a single 24-hour period. From April 3 to April 4, 1974, there were 148 tornadoes confirmed in 13 US states, including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and New York; and the Canadian province of Ontario. It extensively damaged approximately 900 square miles (1,440 square kilometers) along a total combined path length of 2,600 miles (4,160 km).

The Super Outbreak of tornadoes of 3-4 April 1974 remains the most outstanding severe convective weather episode of record in the continental United States. The outbreak far surpassed previous and succeeding events in severity, longevity and extent.

Keep your fingers crossed that some of these convective complexes work your way once they develope over the Hill Country.

I just read the NWS forecast for Houston (which covers through Saturday), and also looked at the forecast soundings. The cap weakens a bit Wednesday, but not by much. Anything that tries to pop will get choked off once it hits 800-850mb. The air column goes from rather moist to bone dry. The cap has been killing us for the past couple of months, since all the storm systems keep on staying to our north, and driving warm air at the mid-level right over us. Stuff will pop to our north, and to our east no problem. Just not over us.

Quoting RastaSteve:Crazy how the worst of this tornado outbreak wasn't even in OK or Kansas as some thought. I knew the worst would be Friday and then Saturday as the deeper moisture was east of the Miss River.

Trough does have potential for something..probably Sub Tropical as Levis says. Lots of convection at the apex at 25N 57W. hooked low level vorticity and a High to the NE reinforcing the east side SE winds and soon a High to the NW reinforcing the NE flow should help release what heat is available. There was one STS that formed right there and head right for the islands one year right about no I believe.